Abstract
Water shortage is a global problem, which requires a global solution. Desalination technologies, whether thermal or membrane processes, are having practical limitations, which result in high operating and capital costs. The thermal desalination process, namely Multi-Stage Flash (M.S.F.) distillation, is still the most commonly used distillation method, especially in the Middle East. However, the MSF units are generally large-scale and very sophisticated, which require expertise to perform regular technical control and servicing. The aim of the present study is the development of a cost-effective with easy operation distillation system, to satisfy the basic water needs in remote areas in developing countries. A novel small scale three-stage compact distillation system has been designed, constructed, installed and commissioned in a pilot plant study at the University of Surrey. The study involved both theoretical experimental investigations as well as economical analysis. An extensive experimental programme were carried to study the effect of a number of parameters including increasing the heat input, heater temperature and the number of chambers (stages) on the distillate rate as well as the water product cost. The results have shown that: Increasing the number of chambers, heat input and heater temperature have lead to improvement in both the distillate and the production rate; Increasing the number of chambers has increased both the capital and running costs but reduced the specific energy consumption, as well as the unit cost of the produced water; The water production cost decreased by about 13.0% and 28.0 % when the numbers of chambers were increased to two and three chambers respectively, The integration of the system with solar energy source is expected to provide a lower energy cost, which would reduce the final product cost. While the water production cost is estimated to be increased when the system integrated with the fossil fuel as energy source due to increase the oil price during the year of this study.